Cheat Sheet: Avon HS on ABC News, John Mellencamp

Weather and news headlines for Thursday, April 17, 2014.

Lowell Nussbaum, columnist for The Indianapolis Star and one of the founders of the Indianapolis Zoo, showed off the newest member of the zoo family — a 25-pound Sardinian donkey named Chris — on Dec. 14, 1965.(Photo: Frank Fisse/The Star file photo)

-- We're back to no-coats weather. Today will be sunny and warmer, says Paul Poteet, with a high of 64.

More news headlines for Thursday, April 17, 2014:

1. Congratulations to the Avon High School team behind the infectious "lip dub" video for being featured on "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" and as the Play of the Day on "Good Morning America"! As of 10 a.m., this video had racked up more than 145,000 page views on YouTube.com, and was showing up as a trending topic nationally on Facebook.

2. Many Indy residents have wanted police beefed up in response to the wave of homicides and other violent crimes this year. But are homeowners willing to pay more taxes? A plan to pad the ranks of IMPD with 100 recruits a year through 2018 would require an additional $30 million, and one idea being floated is to end the homestead property-tax credit.

Jason Godby (left), and partner Travis Tetrault of the Cutters RT team, which is trying to raise one million dollars through collecting $100 apiece signatures, and hope to run the car in the upcoming Indianapolis 500, Monday, April 7, 2014.
(Photo:
Robert Scheer/The Star
)

5. Meryl Streep was awarded an honorary degree during her appearance Wednesday at Indiana University in Bloomington. The Oscar-winning actress and director said young women worry too much about their weight. "What makes you strange" is your strength because that's what gets you noticed, she told the crowd.

6. Liberal Hoosier rocker John Mellencamp wants conservative Republican Gov. Scott Walker to know he supports union rights and doesn't appreciate Walker using his music on the campaign trail. Mellencamp has not directly contacted Walker's campaign this year about his use of the song "Small Town," as in 2012, but still wants him to knock it off, said the rocker's publicist Claire Mercuri. For his part, Walker told the Associated Press he's been a Mellencamp fan for years and won't stop playing his songs at campaign events. Should there be legal restrictions on how artists' work can be used at political events they're not in sync with?

James Markham, founder and CEO of Project Pie, is bringing his build-your-own pizza shop to Indianapolis in the next year.(Photo: Provided by Project Pie)

8. Remember the casually dressed flight instructor who figured prominently in CNN's coverage of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370? Mitchell Casado's jeans-and-plaid-shirt appearance during his appearances has cost him his job. uFly company owner Claudio Teixeira said he fired Casado on Wednesday in part for refusing to dress professionally and making Canadians "look very bad all over the world."

10. Valerie Harper is denying reports that she's now cancer-free. "I wish I were," the longtime TV star said in a statement. "Right now what I am is cautiously optimistic about my present condition, and I have hope for the future." Harper was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009 and subsequently developed brain cancer. In January 2013, she was told she only had three months to live -- but went on to compete on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."

Valerie Harper in 2013.(Photo: Ida Mae Astute AP)

-- Will Arnett has filed for divorce from Amy Poehler after a separation of more than 18 months, according to court records. The comedy duo married in 2003; Arnett is seeking joint custody of their two sons, ages 3 and 5.

-- And "X-Men" director Bryan Singer has been accused of sexually assaulting a then-teenager in 1999 in Los Angeles and in Hawaii. Unusually, the plaintiff chose to use his real name: Michael F. Egan III, 31, now a Nevada resident who alleges that Singer and others threatened to make or break his Hollywood aspirations depending on whether he kept them happy. The director's lawyers called the lawsuit "absurd and defamatory."

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